Last week we were in Leeds for UKREiiF, the annual gathering of people, places, and organisations committed to delivering sustainable, inclusive, and transformative regeneration and investment across the UK. It’s a brilliant opportunity to connect with collaborators, clients, colleagues, and friends, and to share the stories behind the work we’re doing at HBD.
Among the team representing us in Leeds was Hamer Boot. In this piece, Hamer shares his reflections on the event, and the conversations around funding.
I really enjoyed being part of UKREiiF this year. Events like this offer the space to share ideas, forge new relationships, and have the conversations that lead to real opportunity. The calibre and depth of dialogue were particularly strong – a true reflection of the innovation and momentum building across the industry.
Personally, my radar is always tuned to funding conversations, and there was a real buzz around investment, particularly the classic ‘beds and sheds’ themes.
Residential: Viability, safety and shifting models
On the residential side, there’s growing recognition that making urban development financially viable is increasingly difficult. Investor expectations around quality remain rightly high – but coupled with the additional time and cost implications of the Building Safety Act, viability has become one of the most pressing concerns across the board.
It’s clear that when it comes to delivering new homes, you must work every angle. That includes design efficiencies, operational planning, and ensuring you have the right contractor in place. Traditional forward funding routes have all but dried up, prompting a shift toward hybrid, JV-style forward funding models, structures we are likely to see more of in the future.
Grant funding was another hot topic. Local authorities are certainly becoming more progressive and engaged, and while the current systems aren’t yet frictionless, there’s positive momentum. The sector is adapting, and the direction of travel is encouraging.
One of the more compelling discussions I had centred on city centres and their dependency on commercial uses. These urban cores are the social and economic engines of our towns and cities. If we’re serious about encouraging more people to live in cities, we must also ensure there are high-quality places to work. That means more support (particularly from central and local government) for city-centre workspaces. As it stands, current rent levels don’t support viability. We need underwriting at a higher level to unlock delivery. Incentivising residential without parallel support for employment uses risks creating unbalanced, unsustainable communities.
Beyond the urban core, we also had insightful conversations with agents and funds around low-rise, family-focused housing. This typology is becoming increasingly attractive to institutional investors – offering more stability, longer tenancies, and more predictable returns. It aligns closely with our ambitions at schemes like Golden Valley in Cheltenham and future developments in Leicester. Housesmes, rather than apartments, are being seen as a desirable asset class – especially in the context of long-term investment horizons.
With urban In residential, understandably, ESG concerns are often overtaken by more immediate challenges like viability and compliance when delivering apartments. That said, we are seeing more pension funds exploring ways to fund the next generation of high-quality, sustainable residential developments, while beginning to divest from older, less efficient stock as those portfolios mature.
Industrial & Logistics: Evolving demand and green credentials
In the industrial and logistics (I&L) sector, interest remains high – but the landscape is evolving. Occupiers are more discerning, and the days of straightforward delivery are behind us. With increased uncertainty, decision-making cycles are lengthening; one agent even cited average void periods of around 11 months. So, while demand exists, success now requires a much more thoughtful approach and site selection and choosing the right product to develop in that location is more important than ever…
Despite that, the appetite from funds for I&L investment, including speculative development, is real. Through our Origin joint venture with Feldberg Capital, we’re already delivering spec schemes such as INTER, ARK and SPARK. While bidding on for sheds sites remains has been highly competitive, with, if anything, more funds willing to move up the risk curve and take on some development risk. , However there also seems to be a re-emergence of some more fixed-price forward funded spec deals, in some cases where developer pricing expectations have come to meet those of investors but there is movement in the other direction also. We’re seeing more developers teaming up with funds, and some moving up the risk curve through fixed-price, forward-funded spec deals.
A key theme across both sectors is sustainability, but the pace and focus differ. In the commercial office market, we’re pushing ahead with projects like Island – our net zero workspace in Manchester – and the upcoming Colloco scheme in the same city. Here, the focus is on NABERS, operational efficiency and long-term environmental performance.
In I&L though, the emphasis tends to be more on BREEAM certification. One of the challenges still to be solved is how investors monitor operational performance once a tenant takes over. Tenants can, even unintentionally, undermine a building’s efficiency, so establishing long-term accountability is something the market needs to address. That said, ESG remains top of the list and is the first question raised at investment committees, even if the industry is still working out what the ultimate ‘gold standard’ looks like.
In summary
UKREiiF was a brilliant few days and a powerful reminder of the energy, pace and collaborative spirit that defines our sector. From funding models and policy challenges to innovation in design and delivery, the conversations were insightful and energising.
We left inspired and more determined than ever to help shape places with purpose, powered by intelligent investment and shared ambition.